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English Premier League season set to kick off

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The English Premier League season kicks off on Saturday as the most popular league in the world returns to action.

Chelsea will look to hold on to the title it finally ripped away from Manchester United after the Red Devils' three-year reign on top. Arsenal will try to challenge those mighty two, while Manchester City stands poised to crash the Top Four for the first time since becoming the league's biggest spenders.

Newcastle, Blackpool and West Brom are all back in the Premier League, with Newcastle considered the favorite of those three to survive this season.

How do I see this season shaking out? Here is my predicted Top Six finish: 1. Manchester United, 2. Chelsea, 3. Manchester City, 4. Arsenal, 5. Liverpool, 6. Tottenham.

Team most likely to crash that Top Six party? Everton. Team most likely to be demoted after staying up last season? Wolves.

Who do you think will win the Premier League this year? Which team do you see flopping? Which new faces are you excited to see?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Very true, and they’re basically the same squad as last year. I don’t think they’re bad, I just can’t find anything to get excited about with them, and I don’t see where the goals are going to come from. They overachieved last season, but they should probably be safe come next May.

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  2. or lets put it like this since i have way too much free time on my hands.

    lets pretend neither team were allowed to play an over-30 player.

    CHELSEA
    cech
    ivanovic
    alex
    terry (30 in december)
    cole (30 in december)
    mikel
    essien
    ramires
    zhirkov
    kalou
    sturridge

    MAN UTD
    kuszczak
    o’shea
    evans
    vidic
    evra
    valencia
    fletcher
    carrick
    nani
    berbatov (30 in december, or i could easily pick chicharito)
    rooney

    no contest, chelsea wouldn’t even be able to find a goal.

    so tired of this utd is too old argument.

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  3. don’t understand all the hate on blackburn. they finished 20 points above the drop last year, thats a pretty solid team if you ask me!

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  4. like you alluded to near the end of your post, both utd and chelsea have important players over the age of 30, but its hard to disagree that chelsea rely a little more on their old players (drogba, lampard, essien, and terry being the key 4) than utd (rooney, fletcher, vidic, and van der sar being the key 4)

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  5. doubt we’ll see dempsey start tomorrow. gera is fit and he will play tomorrow, but probably up top with zamora and davies on the right wing. if playing 90 in a friendly was going to slow gera down for tomorrow, then he wouldn’t have played the 90. and it looks like duff will be fit to start on the left. looks like dempsey will have to prove himself yet again.

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  6. might i remind you they finished 10th last year with pretty much the same offensive unit (plus they added diouf from man utd this year). you might be underestimating them a bit. big sam knows how to keep his teams up and no team matches up physically with blackburn. they’ll finish between 10 and 15.

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  7. Obviously this is contingent on Arsenal remaining healthy and City being able to gel. Everton’s slow start last year was an aberration, as shown by their strong second half (when they were healthy). No one is running away with the title this year; I think spots one-six will be very, very close.

    1. Manchester United
    2. Arsenal
    3. Manchester City
    4. Chelsea
    5. Everton
    6. Liverpool
    7. Tottenham
    8. Aston Villa
    9. Fulham
    10. Birmingham City
    11. Sunderland
    12. Bolton
    13. West Ham
    14. Stoke City
    15. Newcastle United
    16. Wigan
    17. Wolverhampton Wanderers
    18. Blackburn
    19. Blackpool
    20. West Brom

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  8. So good to hear one of America’s best field players is likely to start for a mid-table EPL squad!

    Seriously, what happened to all the transfers that were going to happen? Bradley still stuck at Mochenblahblahblahblah, Dempsey getting challenged for starting spot at Fulham, Lando still at Galaxy, and Altidore and others not even having a club that wants them.

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  9. I am stunned that the Gunners haven’t been able to upgrade the ‘keeper position yet. I’ve supported Almunia against the barbs the past few years, but he was a weak link last year. I’m not happy that we are still unsettled in goal going into Sunday’s big match.

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  10. I don’t see Chelsea winning it again, they were horrible on the community shield and that gives the psychological advantage to Man u but I think tottenham stays in the top four. But I care more about where Bolton and everton end up can’t wait to watch stu in the Prem for a full season.

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  11. If Cesc can stay healthy, Arsenal could very well win the league. No one can seem to point out any glaring weakness except that trash can they have between the posts. That deficiency should be exceptionally easy to solve with a loan deal or a January transfer if Almunia continues his ineptitude.

    I just hope my Reds can pick themselves up after last season’s disgrace. Torres must get healthy and Joe Cole must come out with a great first couple months. If we get more than a 5-6 points behind…things could turn very ugly. Surely we couldn’t finish behind Everton right?

    1. Arsenal
    2. Chelsea
    3. Man City
    4. Man U
    5. Liverpool
    6. Spurs
    7. Everton
    8. Aston Villa
    9-17 WHO CARES?
    18. West Brom
    19. Wolves
    20. Blackpool

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  12. I see how you would Chelsea gotten worse, but they did bring in Benayoun and Ramires. Ramires is only 23 and could really develop into something huge. Plus, Carlo Ancelotti has said that he is bringing in one more player. Which could be a lot of different players. I hope they bring in Neymar, and if they do not do that than I hope for David Luiz. I would say both but I think that they only have one more foreign player slot open.

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  13. Almunia’s not THAT bad. Sure Schwarzer would be an upgrade, but he’s an upgrade over most. I’m not an Arsenal fan, but I admire them and watch them a lot, and I just don’t think he’s as awful as people make him to be.

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  14. I’m a huge Arsenal fan, but I don’t like our chances to win the league right now.

    Bring us a Hahnemann, Schwarzer, Hart or any average Premiership keeper and we got a shot.

    Heck, Nick Rimando or Kasey Keller would suffice.

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  15. Do folks actually think ManU has improved since last year? I don’t see it. They’ve got a few important pieces that one year older (vdSar, Rio, Scholes, Giggs). They brought in Chicharito and have a few young attacking options, but I am not convinced that their attack is any better than it was last season. Most importantly, their central midfield is increasingly suspect.

    (Of course, perhaps Chelsea has gotten worse since last year – no Ballack, Carvalho, etc., and Terry, Lampard, etc. a year older – so maybe ManU still ends up on top.)

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  16. I’ve heard that too and with Damien Duff injured and Gera having played 90 minutes against England, Dempsey is almost sure to be in Fulhams starting 11.

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  17. I agree Kevin Amond.

    Arsenal to win the league followed by
    Chelsea
    City
    Man Utd
    Villa
    Liverpool
    Fulham
    Birmingham

    yes I am predicting Spurs to fall to midtable where they belong

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  18. For what it’s worth, Holden is likely to start for Bolton against Fulham tomorrow. He’s started the final two friendlies at CM alongside Muamba and played well so he is favored to keep his place in the starting XI.

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  19. You’re one of the few people who I’ve seen put Blackburn as low as you have. I could see them getting relegated unless they pull their crap together. They have no credible offense at the moment. Maybe if this takeover gets done before the end of the month they could pull a couple rabbits out of the hat, otherwise I think they’re cooked.

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  20. Blackpool were fun to watch in the championship. The promotion final with Cardiff was a great game. They might be bad, a la West Brom in 08-09, but they should be entertaining at least.

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  21. Except that Ives has them finishing fourth.

    I like Arsenal’s chances, they were right in the hunt last year, and neither Man United and Chelsea are markedly better in my opinion. No, Chicharito doesn’t count….

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  22. considering utd only lost by 1 point last year even though they only had two senior defenders for a stretch of three weeks last year, plus with SAF as manager, i think there is a lot more than preference you can use as justification for them winning it.

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  23. Typo? Bummer, I was about to commend you on your wit…. Blackpool are so bad, they will finish last AND second to last….Blackpool are so bad, they will be relegated twice…

    By the way, I have never seen them play, so I have no idea, but thought it was funny 🙂

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  24. I think I disagree with you, Ives. I think Liverpool has done enough to improve on the season BEFORE last.

    1. Man U

    2. Arsenal

    3. Liverpool

    4. Chelsea

    5. Manchester City

    6. Everton

    7. Tottenham

    I think if Arsenal stays healthy, which is always the rub, they can surpass a rejuvinated Scouser squad. Chelsea is aging and vulnerable in the back (also is disarray with rumors of the departure of Ashley Cole). I see man City starting very strong, but cracking due to chemistry problems and the sacking of Mancini (which WILL happen mark my words). I think Tottenham is overrated and a healthy Arteta and Jagielka/Lescott will see Everton surpass them.

    (SBI-Any of that is possible, and I actually agree that Everton could pass Tottenham. I should have went with my first thought on that one. You know what, you just swayed me.)

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  25. Chelsea
    Man Utd
    Man City
    Arsenal
    Tottenham
    Everton
    L’Pool
    Villa
    Fulham
    Birmingham
    Bolton
    Sunderland
    West Ham
    Wigan
    Stoke
    Blackburn
    Wolves
    WBA
    Blackpool

    Blackpool

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  26. Well, it’s never a bad bet to pick ManU but I don’t know if there’s a credible reason to favor them over Chelsea other than preference.

    Nobody really knows at this point whether Man City will gel all that talent soon enough to challenge for the title but I think they are a shoe-in to be 3rd at worst. Arsenal may fall into the clutches of the Tottenham/Everton/Villa clot of teams that has caught up with Liverpool.

    Should be another fun season.

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  27. Ives, your the only one that agrees with me about Arsenal finishing 5th. Everyone tries to tell me that Arsenal will win the league.

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